Elevator-door-operating mechanism



C. LFULGHUM.

IVELEVATOR DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM. APPLICATION HLED SEPT. H, 1920.

1,392,320, Patented Oct. 4, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

C. L. FULGHUM.

ELEVATOR DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM v APPLICATION FiLED SEPT. 11, I920- II 1,3S;)2,320 Patented Oct. 4, 1921.

2SHEETS-SHEET 2 UNITED STATES ennui) L. FULGHUM, or QUINCY, ILLINOIS.

ELEVATOR-DOOR-OPERATING MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 4, 1921.

Application filed September 11, 1920. Serial No. 409,687.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CLAUD L. F ULGHUM, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, and a resident of Quincy, county of Adams, and State ofIllinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Elevator-Door-Operating Mechanism, of which the following is a full and clearspecification.

This invention has for its particularobject to provide a power devicetobe carried by the elevator which will openand close the door thereof,or the door of the elevatorshaft, upon the operator pressing electricpush-buttons in the car.

A further object of the invention is to provide a power device foropening and closing the door quickly and noiselessly, and also mechanismto prevent the door slamming but which at the same time Will throw thedoor to its extreme limit of travel.

A still further object is to provide a means which will out out thedoor-operating power device should the door become stalled in its travelto a closed-position, and also another means for cutting out theelevator circuit when the door is open.

These and other objects are attained by the means illustrated in theaccompanying drawing, in which- I Figure 1 is a plan view of theimproved door-operating mechanism;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof;

Fig. 3 is an edgeview of the parts shown in Figs. 1 and 2, including anedge view of a portion of the door;

Fig. 4 is a detail view of the door-latch.

Similar reference numerals in all of the figure of the drawing designatelike parts.

This device is constructed to be mountedon the top of the elevator-carand in the drawings at 5 is shown one of the channelbeams of thecross-head of the elevator. Rigidly secured in any suitable manner tosaid beam 5 are the supporting-brackets 6,

which are connected together by the rails 7 and a rack-bar 8. Mountedtoslide on said electric motor 11, a brake 12, a reducinggearing 13, apanel-board 14; for control-- ling the motor, adoor-arm 15 for operat--ing the doors or gates, at drive-gear 16 which one arm of which issecured to plate 29 by a link 36.

travels on the rack-bar 8 to move the platform back and forth, andsuitable shaftsupports, switches and springs forming a part of theoperating mechanism.

The power is transmitted from the motor through a shaft 17 to thereducing-gears 18 and from these gears to the drive-gear 16 by a shaft19, so that, as the motor is actuated, the gears are driven and thedrivegear 16 is caused to travel along the rack 8 and carry the platform9 therewith. The motor has a remote control; that is, it is controlledby a push-button 20 mounted in the cab of the elevator at some pointconvenient to the operator who has charge of, the car. Anotherpush-button 21 is provided for, reversing the motor to close the gatesor doors, and a third button 22 is used to control the brake 12 whichwill allow the operator to stop the gate or door at any point in itstravel.

Door-arm 15 is pivoted atone end at 23 to the top of the platform,preferably near one edge thereof, and is formed witha short angular bendat 24 to extend the free end beyond the edge of the platform, is thenextended forwardly a suflicient distance to reach the vertical plane ofthe gate, and is provided with a depending portion 25 which extendsdownwardly to near the latch 26 of the gate. On the end of thisdepending portion 25 is a two-faced cam 27 which is adapted to travelbetween the guide-plates 28 and 29 mounted upon a suitable base 30 whichis fixed to the gate or door preferably above the latch 26, said cam 27serving to insure the proper positionof the arm 15 in its up-and-downtravel with the car.

Guide-plate 28 is rigidly fixed to the base 30 and guide-plate 29 ismounted to move sidewise upon the bolts 31, this movement being limitedby the slots 32. A spring 33 is provided to retain plate 29 in itsnormal position with its vertical edges parallel with a correspondingedge of plate 28 and slightly spaced therefrom to form a channelbetween. the two plates, through which the cam 27 travels. Adjacent thebottom edge of the base 30 is pivoted an angle-lever 34,

slot-and-pin connection 35, its other arm being connected to latch 26through the With the construction thus far described, when the car isstopped at one of the landshown in Figs. 1 and 2), thereby causing thearm to engage plate 29 and push it sidewise to the limit oi the slots32. This movement of the plate operates angle-lever 3 1 on its pivotwith the result that the link 36 is.

pulled upwardly, which in turn lifts the latch 26 and thus unlatc-hesthe doorsfastening. The platform continues to move to the right and thegate is pushed to open pos1- tion by the arm 15 after the latch isunfastened. hen it is desired to close the gate, the operator pushes thereverse button 21 when the motor starts in the reverse direction,causing cam 27 to engage plate 28 which is rigidly atlixed to the gate;thus the gate is forced to closed position and the latch automaticallycatches in its keepers.

To prevent slamming of the door, a butfer mechanism comprising adash-pot and a spring device is used. The dasl1pot cylinder 37 issecured adjacent the end of one of the brackets 6, and its piston-rod 38has an arm 39 secured thereto which is extended upwardly and laterallyover the dash-pot and is provided with an upwardly-turned free end whichforms a contacting 10 which lies in the path of and against which theforwardly-extending portion or the door-arm is adapted to strike. Thedash-pot is also provided with a spring 37 for returning it to normalposition. The spring device comprises a pair of springs 41 and 41mounted on a pull-rod 12 and positioned on opposite sides of a lug 43fixed to the top of the platform 9. Said springs 11 are mounted be tweensaid lug 43 and nut-collars 14. One

endfof said rod is secured to the door-arm 15' as shown at 15. Thus whenthe door is being operated to closed position and before it reaches itslimit of movement, arm 15 engages contact-lug 40 and operates the pistonin the dash-pot. This part of the operation cushions the closingmovement, and the resistance offered by the dash-pot forces arm 15slightly to the right (from the position shown in Fig. 1), therebypushing the rod 42 to the right and compressing spring 41. Thisresistance to the movement or the doors stops 1t and its operatingmechanism slightly short of complete closed position then after themotor is shut ofi,

s ring i1 expands and completes the closing operation without a jar orslam. When the resistance of the dash-potoper'ates to compress "spring11', the movement to the right of arm 15 also operates a shift-rod &6which in turn operates a pivoted switch-lever 47 provided with aswitch-pla te 48 at one end and which normally closes the gapfbetweenthe contacts 49 forming a part of the motor operating circuit. Thus themotor circuit of the doormechanism is automatically broken to stop themotor short oi a complete closing of the door or gate.

The principle involved is that of air Working against springs. The twosprings T1 and 4.1 are mounted on the platform at a central pointbetween them, so that, no mat ter in which direction the arm 15 tends tomove on its pivot 23, it will be counteracted by a spring of suflicienttension to withstand a force sufiicient to move the door. In the regulartravel of the platform, the springs stand the pull of the doors, butwhen the dash-pot is reached the resistance compresses one of thesprings and also causes the arm to operate the motor-switch and cut outthe motor.

WVhile the door is closing, should it become blocked by a person ormechandise in its path, the effect .upon arm 15 would be the same ascaused by the dash-pot; that is, the resistance of the obstacle againstthe movement of the platform would cause the arm 15 to operate themotor-cut-outswitch and stop the motor and also the door at the point ofblockade.

. Another cut-out switch 50 is provided. in the elevator circuit whichis operated to cutout elevator lifting power when the door starts toopen. This switch is operated by anextension 51 from arm 39 of thedash-pot mechanism. Said switch 50 is secured to the frame of theelevator.

The panel-board 14 is of standard electrical equipment, and in thisinstance is used as. a control for the motor in connection from themotor. This board and the connecting circuits are shown onlydiagrammatically, as their specific construction forms no part ofthisinvention. The brake 12 is solenoid-operatedand is preferably connectedwith the motor in a way to allow thebrake to release only when the motoris operating.

The whole mechanism is carried on the brackets 6. attached tothe-cross-head beams of the car, and is sufliciently light in weight tonot affect the-operation of the car in any manner. x

The nature and; scope of the invention having been thus indicated andits preferred embodiment having been specifically described, what isclaimed as new is:

1. An elevator-door operator comprising a platform movable on the to ofthe elevatorcar, a power mechanism or moving said platform back andforth mounted on the platform, a' 'door arm' pivoted on the plat. formand constructed to engage the door to be operated, means for controllingsaid power mechanism from within the car, a

' platform movable on the top of the elevatorcar, a power mechanism formoving said platform back and forth mounted on the platform, a door-armpivoted on theplatform and constructed to engage the door to beoperated, means for controlling said power mechanism from within thecar, a buffer mechanism for stopping the movement of the door, and meansoperated by the lateral movement of the door-arm on its pivot forstopping the power mechanism.

8. An elevator-door operator comprising a platform movable on the top ofthe ele vator-car, a power mechanism for moving said platform back andforth mounted on the platform, a door-arm pivoted on the platform andconstructed to engage the door to be operated, means for controllingsaid power mechanism from within the car, a buffer mechanism forstopping the movement of the door, and means operated by the lateralmovement of the door-arm on its pivot for stopping the power mechanism,said lateral movement being caused by the resistance offered by thebuffer mechanism.

4. An elevator-door operator comprising a platform movable on the top ofthe elevator car, a power mechanism for moving said platform back andforth mounted on the platform, a doorearm pivoted on the platform andconstructed to engage the door to be operated, means for controllingsaid power mechanism from within the car, a buffer mechanism forstopping the movement of the door, including a dash-pot having aprojection carried by its piston-stem which lies in the path of thedoor-arm, and means operated by the door-arm for stopping the powermechanism.

5. An elevator-door operator comprising a platform movable on the top ofthe elevator, a power mechanism for moving said platform back and forthmounted on the platform, a door-arm pivoted on the platform andconstructed to engage the door to be operated, means for controllingsaid power mechanism from within the car, a buffer mechanism forstopping the movement of the door,.including a dash-pot having aprojection carried by its piston-stem which lies in the path of thedoor-arm, means operated by the door-arm for stopping the powermechanism, and a pair of springs mounted on a rod connected to thedoor-arm and separated by an abutment fixed to the platform.

6. An elevator-door operator comprising aplatform movable on the top ofthe elevator-car, a power mechanism for moving said platform back andforth mounted on the platform, a door-arm pivoted on the platform andconstructed to engage the door to be operated, means for controllingsaid power mechanism from within the car, means for operating thedoor-arm'in one direction on its pivot to cut-out the power mechanismand stop the door short of its full movement, and means for operatingthe door-arm in another direction to finish the full movement.

7. An elevator-door operator comprising a platform movable on the top ofthe car, a power means for moving the platform car ried by the car, adoor-arm secured to said platform and provided with a cam-projection onits free end, and a combined door and door-latch operating mechanismsecured to the door and also constructed to form a guide-way for the camon the door as the elevator-car travels up and down.

8. An elevator-door operator comprising a platform movable on the top ofthe car, a power means for moving the platform carried by the car, adoor-arm secured to said platform and provided with a camprojection onits free end, and a combined door and door-latch operating mechanismsecured to the door and embodying a pair of plates arranged to bealternately engaged by said cam-projection to open and close the door,one of said plates being mounted movable with respect to the other plateand provided with a connection extending to the door-latch, whereby theprimary engagement with the movable plate will unlatch the door previousto its opening movement.

9. In combination with an elevator-car, a support movably mountedthereon, a motor mounted on said support and mechanism for moving thesupport when the motoris operated, an arm for moving the elevator-doormovably mounted on said support, and means actuated by the movement ofthis arm for stopping the motor when the elevator-door reaches the limitof its travel.

In testimony whereof I hereunto afiix my signature.

CLAUD L. FULGHUM.

